I’m struggling a bit over here. You see, I am debating how much I want to participate in the birthday party circus. That’s circus, literally. I am debating whether to take my daughter to Cirque Du Soleil for her birthday.
We tend to be fairly minimalist about birthdays around here. Last year, we got our daughter a mini trampoline using coupons, and the entire birthday party and gift cost around $150 for ten kids, ten adults, food, a trampoline, and a fifty dollar donation to the local reptile society (don’t ask).
We didn’t do presents from children, and we asked the grandparents to get her memberships to activities that we could attend during the rest of the year. Like most children, our daughter has way too much stuff already. I’m all over experiences, though, and last year we watched Cirque du Soleil on video endlessly. We both enjoyed it very much, sang the music and attempted to do the circus acts themselves, with little success. I am debating splurging on the real thing for her birthday gift.
Most children we know are having more sensible birthday parties these days. Some collect tangible donations for the animal shelter, while others do a party where guests bring two two-dollar coins, one for a charity of the child’s choice and one for the child. Then the child goes out to buy a gift later on. This will be our decision this year, since my daughter has already decided that she’ll donate some money to the local Children’s Hospital. I love it that the kids in our neighborhood have normalized these birthdays, and I say hooray for no presents!
Although we do tend to do a single large gift, I don’t want to be excessive. Would you take your preschooler out to an amazing but expensive event instead of buying her a birthday gift? Do you think that it would be worthwhile?